Jonathan Leone and Herb Weiner are the veteran members of the Sausalito City Council. They were both elected in 2006, re-elected in 2010 and seeking third terms on the Nov. 4 ballot.

In a three-candidate race for two seats, they are the best qualified and most experienced.

Leone, a local Internet entrepreneur, brought six years of experience on the city Planning Commission to the job. He is pragmatic and responsive.

Weiner ran for the council after years as a Sausalito businessman. He owned gas stations in town and his business connections led to his involvement in the Sausalito Rotary Club, the Sausalito Chamber of Commerce and the Sausalito Art Festival.

He’s retired from his business, but he brings to the council old-fashioned politics involving walking around the city and talking to people. He knows the town, its issues and its challenges.

They are being challenged by Jill Hoffman, an attorney and Naval Reserve captain, who moved to Sausalito 15 years ago. Her local political resume pales in comparison to Leone’s and Weiner’s. But willingness to run is a public service because it forces candidates to reach out to voters and requires voters to think about close-to-home issues and the city’s leadership.

Hoffman got involved in city affairs recently when the council was drafting its plan to meet state housing quotas. She joined her neighbors in voicing their concerns that too many units had been proposed for their area of town.

During the campaign, Hoffman also is raising public awareness about the cost of Sausalito’s pension liability — a growing cost that has taken a toll on the city’s budget.

She should stay involved and build her experience in City Hall issues.

For a small city, Sausalito has a lot of important issues, such as repairing its aging storm drain system, bike-pedaling tourists, meeting state-mandated housing quotas and the nearly perennial matter of the future use, look and shape of Marinship.

Weiner takes pride that a strong management team is running City Hall and the city has been able to build its reserves. He also was part of the council’s 4-1 vote that put a half-cent sales tax increase on the ballot to raise money needed to fix the city’s storm drains.

The city, he says, has made fixing its sewer pipes, roads and storm drains a top budgetary priority. Those aren’t flashy political issues, but they “are the right thing to do” for Sausalito, he says.

Leone shares those priorities, but he offers a different perspective. He and his wife are raising their family in town.

Hoffman says the town should do more to address safety problems created by tourists riding bikes into town via the steep, narrow and winding Alexander Avenue. “Those families from Iowa” are ill-prepared for that leg of the bike ride from San Francisco to Sausalito, she said.

Weiner and Leone, however, are working on a solution, re-opening a path from the north end of the bridge that would take bicyclists through Fort Baker and into Sausalito.

“We’re the gateway to Marin. You just can’t shut the door,” Weiner says.

Weiner’s connection with the business community is important and should be represented on the council. His walk-around-town approach is also helpful in city deliberations.

Leone’s experience in land-use issues is also beneficial. He knows the terrain and he knows the community.

He will bring experience and background to the City Hall’s new look into the future of Marinship.

Given the composition of the council, Leone and Weiner bring to the council table knowledge and background that is valuable to the city’s decisionmaking process.

The IJ recommends the re-election of Jonathan Leone and Herb Weiner to the Sausalito City Council.